Spring has finally sprung in the USA. The daffodils are up and the flowers on my magnolia tree are in bloom. The tree was giving to me by my dear friend Roxanne when my mother passed away 14 years ago. Whenever the velvety soft, white flowers blossom they remind me of her gentle spirit and how much she loved nature.I can almost hear her laughter on the breeze...and it brings comfort to my heart.

On a personal note, I have been awarded the 2011 National Storytelling NetworksNortheast Service and Leadership Oracle Award. It came as a complete surprise and it is all the more precious because the nomination came from my colleagues. I follow in the steps of some amazing people and I am honored.

I arrived home very early this morning from the wonderful Northlands Storytelling Conference so please accept my apologies for sending the newsletter out a day late. I attended terrific workshops, presented one of my own, and was one of three presenters for a panel discussion, "Selling Stories, Not Snake Oil. I listened to amazing storytellers during the concerts, told a story as well, caught up with old friends, made new ones and came home happily story satiated! Next year will be the 30th anniversary of this amazing conference. Start saving your pennies now, you want to miss a moment!

Remember, if you are seeking stories, curriculum, etc. on spring or other holidays in May and June don’t forget to search the newsletter archives. In the past I have covered Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Flag Day, Asian Pacific Day, Dolls Day …well you get the idea! A Google search box is available on the main newsletter site at http://storybugnewsletter.blogspot.com/ . Also, for those of you who may be unaware, I also write a blog dedicated to the oral tradition. I often add stories and education resources there as well. You may find it here: http://www.karenchace.blogspot.com/ .

As always, I appreciate your time. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions please drop me a note at storybug@aol.com . I love hearing from you.

Basile's "Il Pentamerone" - Storyteller Laura Bobrow has generously shared a free resource. She has worked on a project translating the poetry of Basile's "Il Pentamerone" into narrative verse. The purpose is to draw the simple story plots from the over-embellished prose versions. The poems are listed on her websiteat: http://www.laurajbobrow.com/poetry.html . Thanks for sharing your hard work Laura!

"Live out your imagination, not your history." -Arthur Bryan

BLOG

Storyteller Limor Shiponi of Israel always offers insightful posts related to storytelling and the world at large.http://limorshiponi.com/

I've been working with the Massachusetts Humanities Council on the FAIR (Family Adventures In Reading) for the last five weeks. A few weeks ag we were reading the book Frederick by Leo Leonni. In the story Frederick collects words, colors and pictures to sustain his friends through the winter. During the discussion period I asked, “What if Frederick had run out of words?” Devlin, a very precocious six year old said, “How could ANYONE ever run out of words!”

SPOKEN WORD/STORYTELLING VENUES
Usually I have a list of events here. However to conserve space and cut down on the amount of scrolling my newsletter readers have to do I moved the information to my blog. You may find it at this link. http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/04/storytelling-story-slams-and-spoken.html . Also, if you have any regular spoken word and storytelling venues such as guild gatherings you would like to list, send them to me at storybug@aol.com and I will be happy to add them for free. Directions are at the above blog link.

EDUCATION HIGHWAY

Normally I kept this section to ten or or less items to conserve space. But since I dislike having to say no once the space if full, or if their item has not passed but already been listed, I have moved this section to my blog as well. Every issue the old information will be deleted and new events will be listed. If you have an upcoming event I will be happy to list it for free. Please go to this link http://karenchace.blogspot.com/2011/04/ease-on-down-education-highway.html for the specific directions and format then email it to me at storybug@aol.com .

SOMETHING EXTRA

Shelter Box – This wonderful organization provides emergency shelter and lifesaving supplies for families around the world who are affected by disasters at the time when they need it the most. It really is amazing what they fit into these boxes that are so crucial to survival. http://shelterbox.org/ /

Untiny.me

You may notice that many of the URL’s in my newsletter begin with http://tinyurl.com. This service turns very long web addresses into shorter ones. Untiny.me retrieves the original so you will be able to access it if it is blocked by your server. http://untiny.me/

About Catch the Storybug Newsletter

This monthly or bi-monthly newsletter is researched and written by Karen Chace, Professional Storyteller, Author, Web Researcher, Workshop Leader, Storytelling Teacher and Story Coach.